Intentions to Marry, 1903 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840423, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, October 10 2025

1903 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 481

District of Waipawa Quarter ending 31 March 1903 Registrar Samuel Johnson

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

663

10 January 1903

Robert Shaw
Margaret Carmichael

Robert Shaw
Margaret Carmichael
💍 1903/1444

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

63
73

Waipawa
Waipawa

42 years
40 years

Office of Registrar, Waipawa

03/406

10 January 1903

Samuel Johnson, Registrar

No	663
Date of Notice	10 January 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Shaw	Margaret Carmichael
	💍 1903/1444
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	63	73
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	42 years	40 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Waipawa
Folio	03/406
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1903
Officiating Minister	Samuel Johnson, Registrar

664

7 February 1903

John Boyle
Martha Roxborough

John Boyle
Martha Roxborough
💍 1903/1447

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Duties

32
24

Waipawa
Waipawa

4 days
4 weeks

St. Patrick's, Waipawa

03/409

7 February 1903

Rev. W. Johnson

No	664
Date of Notice	7 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Boyle	Martha Roxborough
	💍 1903/1447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Duties
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	4 days	4 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's, Waipawa
Folio	03/409
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Johnson

665

7 February 1903

Alfred Lowe
Mary Sarah Louisa McFadden

Alfred Lane
May Sarah Louise McFadden
💍 1903/1445

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
25

Waipawa
Waipawa

1 year
1 year

Residence of Mr. McFadden, Waipawa

03/407

7 February 1903

Rev. G. K. Stowell

No	665
Date of Notice	7 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Lowe	Mary Sarah Louisa McFadden
BDM Match (87%)	Alfred Lane	May Sarah Louise McFadden
	💍 1903/1445
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. McFadden, Waipawa
Folio	03/407
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. K. Stowell

666

7 February 1903

Leonard Charles Rathbone
Margaret Baker

Leonard Charles Rathbone
Margaret Baker
💍 1903/1432

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
25

Waipawa
Waipawa

26 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs. Baker, Waipawa

03/415

7 February 1903

Rev. H. P. Coney, M.A.

No	666
Date of Notice	7 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Charles Rathbone	Margaret Baker
	💍 1903/1432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	26 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Baker, Waipawa
Folio	03/415
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. P. Coney, M.A.

667

7 February 1903

John Reidy
Susan Morton

John Reidy
Susan Morton
💍 1903/1448

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

33
26

Waipawa
Waipawa

3 days
3 days

St. Patrick's, Waipawa

03/410

7 February 1903

Rev. W. Johnson

No	667
Date of Notice	7 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Reidy	Susan Morton
	💍 1903/1448
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	33	26
Dwelling Place	Waipawa	Waipawa
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's, Waipawa
Folio	03/410
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Johnson

668

28 February 1903

John Cleary
Emeline Worthington

John Cleary
Emlin Worthington
💍 1903/1446

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
29

Kaikora
Kaikora

14 days
1 month

Residence of Mrs. McNaughton, Kaikora

03/408

28 February 1903

Rev. G. K. Stowell

No	668
Date of Notice	28 February 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cleary	Emeline Worthington
BDM Match (95%)	John Cleary	Emlin Worthington
	💍 1903/1446
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Kaikora	Kaikora
Length of Residence	14 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. McNaughton, Kaikora
Folio	03/408
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. K. Stowell

669

17 March 1903

James Hughes
Annie Alice Mabel Brown

James Hughes
Annie Alice Mabel Brown
💍 1903/1433

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

29
26

Hampden, H.B.
Hampden, H.B.

12 years
5 years

Non-Denominational Church, Hampden

03/414

17 March 1903

Rev. H. P. Coney, M.A.

No	669
Date of Notice	17 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hughes	Annie Alice Mabel Brown
	💍 1903/1433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Hampden, H.B.	Hampden, H.B.
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Non-Denominational Church, Hampden
Folio	03/414
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. P. Coney, M.A.

670

26 March 1903

Carl Frank Battgiache
Ada Thomas

Carl Frank Bettzieche
Ada Thomas
💍 1903/3001

Bachelor
Spinster

Station Hand
Domestic Duties

40
33

Pukehou
Pukehou

5 days
14 years

Anglican Church, Te Aute

03/418

26 March 1903

Rev. A. F. Williams

No	670
Date of Notice	26 March 1903
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Carl Frank Battgiache	Ada Thomas
BDM Match (93%)	Carl Frank Bettzieche	Ada Thomas
	💍 1903/3001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Station Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	40	33
Dwelling Place	Pukehou	Pukehou
Length of Residence	5 days	14 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Te Aute
Folio	03/418
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1903
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. F. Williams

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).